08/02/2006
NEWS STORY
 |
English-based teams often have problems getting hot-blooded South American drivers to deal with the freezing cold and damp conditions that characterise your average day's testing at Silverstone. No such problems with Christian Klien however, who's well used to the rigours of an Austrian winter.
While the driver stood up well to the cold, the same could not be said for the pit stop equipment. The race team joined the test team today to carry out some "live" pit-stop practice runs with the car being driven down pit lane and real refuelling taking place. The crew did an excellent job considering the winter break and the fact that there are some new faces on the team. However, practice had to be delayed until the middle of the day as the wheel guns were freezing up in the morning!
"It was a scrappy day," commented Chief Test Engineer, Ian Morgan. "The track stayed damp most of the time and we only really managed to do some runs on dry tyres after 3pm. Unfortunately, we lost the last half hour of the session with a hydraulic system problem we had not encountered before and which we are currently investigating."
Christian completed 30 laps with a best time of 1:26.15.
Red Bull Racing's next test session kicks off in Valencia on Tuesday, 14th February.
To check out our Silverstone test picture gallery, click here